EVEN as the pandemic has somehow eased the heavy traffic that we experience in major thoroughfares both in Manila and here in the province, most drivers still experience stress when traveling because of some uneducated and reckless road users. This got me thinking, why not include road rules and safety education in the basic education curriculum. This can be taught as a subject in itself or be integrated into some subject areas in the Senior High School years.
In fact, in countries like Australia, road safety education begins in early childhood services in which children and young people are trained and oriented on road safety as passengers, pedestrians, cyclists, and novice drivers.
In a study conducted by an Australian Traffic Management and Safety Senior Manager titled “Road Safety in Five Leaning Countries (and lessons for developing countries), Rifaat Shoukrallah said that “lower rates of road deaths and road injuries can be found in the developed world while higher numbers can be found in India, China, and other developing nations. Close to half of all traffic deaths worldwide take place in the Asia Pacific region.” He further cited that car ownership, which rapidly increasing in Africa and Asia, coupled with population growth and rapid development contributes to the increasing number of road crashes that result in injuries and fatalities.
It should be mentioned here that at least one part of the Philippines was able to develop a policy as regards road safety and that is Davao City. When I visited it in 2015, I was taken aback by the high level of discipline that is being exhibited by the people who live there. It is similar to the feeling of being in freeport zones such as Clark and Subic wherein visitors strictly adhere to the road rules and traffic regulations being enforced inside the ecozones. The sad thing to note, however, is the minute they go out of these economic zones, they disregard traffic rules and safety policies altogether.
The goal to improve road situations will involve both infrastructure improvements and education or advocacy efforts among all road users. I have written in a previous column how the improvement of roads affects the performance of vehicles not only the level of education and attitude of the drivers. Standardizing road specifications in terms of the number of lanes is as important as educating people on which is the fast lane and which is the slow lane.
If we start educating our youth beginning with the simple traffic signs and road rules being enforced in our country, maybe we can expect that there will be fewer road accidents and road rage incidents in the future. Education is an important mechanism in changing and improving our standards of living. With the technology and ease of developing advocacy programs using social media, we can help not only the youth be knowledgeable about road safety and traffic rules, but more importantly, make all citizens who own a driver’s license responsible road users whenever and wherever they travel to.